Child development specialists say that Emilda has the mental capacity of a 3-year-old. But this, and her environment, haven’t prevented her from qualifying to represent the Philippines in track and field at the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Athens, Greece.

Regrettably, qualifying and going to Athens are two different things.

Emilda is currently training … hoping that something can be done so she can join the other 7,500 athletes who will be competing in the games.

She’s not able to make plans because activities like this can’t be funded by our Child Sponsorship Program. However, Compassion Philippines has submitted a proposal requesting additional assistance for Emilda.

This is where you come in. Let’s raise the money to send Emilda to Greece. The amount is just shy of $20,000.

Make a donation to allow Emilda to compete in the International Special Olympics. (UPDATE: Mar. 8, 2011 – 100 percent of the money has been raised.)

Assuming we can raise the money for Emilda, I plan to have at least one follow-up blog post about Emilda before the games begin and one after she’s raced. Depending on what the Philippines Country Office can support, there could be more, including video. That’s what I’m pushing for.

Thank you for the opportunity to support Emilda, what a fantastic story… I am looking forward to hearing news of her victories in Greece (what an incredible and historic place to compete in the Special Olympics!) — she will get there!

I didn’t purchase anything for Valentine’s Day — giving her the funds instead!

The only deadline is when we reach the $19,857 amount requested by the Compassion Philippines proposal. Hopefully, we’ll be able to do that quickly.

There is a thermometer tracking our progress on this page; although, it’s not currently displaying properly. That’s being addressed and should be fixed soon.

I’m also going to be giving updates about donations to let people know how things are going.

You can send your contribution with your monthly statement, but please be sure to check the thermometer first. And be sure to include a note that you’re donating so that Emilda can go to the Special Olympics. Include this code for proper tracking – 96738.

At this time we are not. We don’t do much fundraising via social media because we try to provide communication that is more relational. However, when I do see something like this I like to offer it to our fans and followers so they can help. On the other hand, sponsors and donors do get quite a number of requests for support via email and direct mail. We try to exercise restraint and not overwhelm them will all the needs that poverty tosses up at us.

Instead of Compassion sending out a mailer or e-mail, perhaps those of us who are interested could commit to pasting the link in an email and sending it out to family, friends, our Bible study groups, church groups, or anyone else who might be interested in participating.

I donated a couple of days ago and am waiting until my next paycheck to donate more. Tell your friends and family about this; I know that in Christ, nothing is impossible and Emilda certainly shows us that with her brave spirit and heart!

Okay… I gave 20 bucks and now I’m going to go check that thermometer. Only thing is, I didn’t enter a code when I donated…… It already said something about the Olympic fund at the top? So I hope it is okay. If not…. I guess it just means I gotta donate again.

Hi there! I recently blogged about this giving opportunity. I’m wondering if the online donation link is also for Canadian donors? Will a Canadian charitable tax receipt be issued? If not, is there a ways we can donate via the Compassion.ca website? Thanks!

Donations made by credit card via the U.S. website will only generate a U.S. tax receipt at the end of the year. Compassion Canada says that they can only provide a tax receipt for contributions that come directly through their office. We’re not able to set up a donation page on Canada’s site for Emilda because of how donations are being tracked for this effort.